{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T11:58:58Z","timestamp":1773316738326,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2007,7,1]],"date-time":"2007-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1183248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["SIGBED Rev."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The Virtual Node Layer (VNLayer) programming abstraction provides programmable, predictable automata--virtual nodes--emulated by the low-level network nodes. This simplifies the design and rigorous analysis of applications for the wireless sensor network setting, as the layer can mask much of the uncertainty of the underlying components. In this paper, we define a general VNLayer architecture, and then use this framework to design a practical VNLayer implementation, optimized for real-world use. We then discuss our experience deploying this implementation on a testbed of hand-held computers, and in a custom-built packet-level simulator, and present a sample application--a virtual traffic light--to highlight the power and utility of our abstraction. We conclude with a survey of additional applications that are well-suited to this setting.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/1317103.1317105","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2007,11,16]],"date-time":"2007-11-16T15:57:07Z","timestamp":1195228627000},"page":"7-12","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["The virtual node layer"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Matthew","family":"Brown","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]},{"given":"Seth","family":"Gilbert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]},{"given":"Nancy","family":"Lynch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]},{"given":"Calvin","family":"Newport","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]},{"given":"Tina","family":"Nolte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Spindel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab., Cambridge, MA"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2007,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","unstructured":"{1} Blueprint for NAS. FAA Office of System Architecture and Investment Analysis.  {1} Blueprint for NAS. FAA Office of System Architecture and Investment Analysis."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","unstructured":"{2} Virtual infrastructure project homepage. http:\/\/theory.csail.mit.edu\/tds\/vi-project\/index.html.  {2} Virtual infrastructure project homepage. http:\/\/theory.csail.mit.edu\/tds\/vi-project\/index.html."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1022630.1022643"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","volume-title":"MIT AI Lab","author":"Beal J.","year":"2003","unstructured":"{4} J. Beal . Persistent nodes for reliable memory in geographically local networks. Technical Memo AI Memo 2003-011 , MIT AI Lab , Cambridge, MA , April 2003 . {4} J. Beal. Persistent nodes for reliable memory in geographically local networks. Technical Memo AI Memo 2003-011, MIT AI Lab, Cambridge, MA, April 2003."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1073814.1073850"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/11795490_12"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","first-page":"323","volume-title":"Allerton Conference 2005:  43rd Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing","author":"Dolev S.","year":"2005","unstructured":"{7} S. Dolev , S. Gilbert , L. Lahiani , N. Lynch , and T. Nolte . Timed virtual stationary automata for mobile networks . In Allerton Conference 2005: 43rd Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing , page 323 , Champaign-Urbana, IL , September 2005 . Invited paper. {7} S. Dolev, S. Gilbert, L. Lahiani, N. Lynch, and T. Nolte. Timed virtual stationary automata for mobile networks. In Allerton Conference 2005: 43rd Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing, page 323, Champaign-Urbana, IL, September 2005. Invited paper."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","series-title":"Lecture Notes in Computer Science","volume-title":"Virtual mobile nodes for mobile ad hoc networks","author":"Dolev S.","year":"2004","unstructured":"{8} S. Dolev , S. Gilbert , N. A. Lynch , E. Schiller , A. A. Shvartsman , and J. L. Welch . Virtual mobile nodes for mobile ad hoc networks . In R. Guerraoui, editor, 18th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2004 ), Trippenhuis, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, October, 2004, volume 3274 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science . Springer , December 2004. Also Technical Report MIT-LCS-TR-937, MIT CSAIL, Cambridge, MA 02139, 2004. {8} S. Dolev, S. Gilbert, N. A. Lynch, E. Schiller, A. A. Shvartsman, and J. L. Welch. Virtual mobile nodes for mobile ad hoc networks. In R. Guerraoui, editor, 18th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2004), Trippenhuis, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, October, 2004, volume 3274 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer, December 2004. Also Technical Report MIT-LCS-TR-937, MIT CSAIL, Cambridge, MA 02139, 2004."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","first-page":"62","volume-title":"DIAL-M-POMC 2005: Third Annual ACM\/SIGMOBILE International Workshop on Foundation of Mobile Computing","author":"Dolev S.","year":"2005","unstructured":"{9} S. Dolev , S. Gilbert , E. Schiller , A. A. Shvartsman , and J. Welch . Autonomous virtual mobile nodes . In DIAL-M-POMC 2005: Third Annual ACM\/SIGMOBILE International Workshop on Foundation of Mobile Computing , pages 62 - 69 , Cologne, Germany, September 2005 . Also Technical Report MIT-LCS-TR-992, MIT CSAIL, Cambridge, MA , 2005. 10.1145\/1080810.1080821 {9} S. Dolev, S. Gilbert, E. Schiller, A. A. Shvartsman, and J. Welch. Autonomous virtual mobile nodes. In DIAL-M-POMC 2005: Third Annual ACM\/SIGMOBILE International Workshop on Foundation of Mobile Computing, pages 62-69, Cologne, Germany, September 2005. Also Technical Report MIT-LCS-TR-992, MIT CSAIL, Cambridge, MA, 2005. 10.1145\/1080810.1080821"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/11577327_7"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/90.769770"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/345910.345931"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.21236\/ADA467032"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","first-page":"75","volume-title":"Ad Hoc Networking","author":"Steenstrup M.","year":"2001","unstructured":"{14} M. Steenstrup . Ad Hoc Networking , pages 75 - 138 . Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc. , Boston, MA, USA , 2001 . {14} M. Steenstrup. Ad Hoc Networking, pages 75-138. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, USA, 2001."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the First USENIX\/ACM Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '04)","author":"Welsh M.","year":"2004","unstructured":"{15} M. Welsh and G. Mainland . Programming sensor networks using abstract regions . In Proceedings of the First USENIX\/ACM Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '04) , March 2004 . {15} M. Welsh and G. Mainland. Programming sensor networks using abstract regions. In Proceedings of the First USENIX\/ACM Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '04), March 2004."}],"container-title":["ACM SIGBED Review"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/1317103.1317105","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/1317103.1317105","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T13:39:16Z","timestamp":1750253956000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/1317103.1317105"}},"subtitle":["a programming abstraction for wireless sensor networks"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2007,7]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2007,7]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1145\/1317103.1317105"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/1317103.1317105","relation":{},"ISSN":["1551-3688"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1551-3688","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2007,7]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2007-07-01","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}